Known vehicles include a movable partition, such as those having a side window, moon roof, or sliding door. A motor is coupled with the movable partition to facilitate powered operation of the movable partition. Operation of the motor is controlled through actuation of a selector that is coupled with a controller. The controller detects the position of the selector and accordingly controls actuation of the motor. For example, if the selector is moved to a close-initiate position, the controller operates the motor to move the movable partition towards a closed position. Similarly, if the selector is moved to an open-initiate position, the controller operates the motor to move the movable partition towards an opened position.
Each time the motor comes to rest, the controller records the motor's final position (e.g., to memory) for later use (e.g., when the motor is subsequently operated). As is common, electrical current from a vehicular power source, such as a battery, facilitates operation of the motor. When the electrical current to the motor is interrupted to stop the motor, the motor continues to move momentarily (e.g., due to inertia or motor wind-down) before coming to rest. Therefore, once electrical current to the motor is interrupted, the controller is configured such that the motor's final position is detected after a predetermined delay time.
The amount of time from when electrical current to the motor is interrupted to when the motor comes to rest (e.g., the motor stoppage time) varies with certain vehicular conditions. For example, during cooler ambient temperatures, the motor stoppage time can be shorter than during warmer ambient temperatures. The delay time of the controller, however, is predetermined to account for the worst-case motor stoppage time for a particular vehicular condition. However, when the motor stoppage times are not “worst-case”, the delay time of the controller can be excessive thereby wasting processing time and further delaying pending (e.g., queued) controller operations.
The controller can also be powered from the vehicular power source. When the electrical current to both the controller and motor is interrupted (e.g., when the vehicle is turned off, during low battery voltage, or during battery failure), the controller may need to remain powered long enough to record the final resting position of the motor. Typically, a supplemental power source, such as an electrolytic capacitor can power the controller when electrical current from the vehicular battery source is interrupted. However, performance of these supplemental power sources can be also affected by vehicular conditions. Conventionally, these supplemental power sources have been oversized to account for powering the controller during worst-case motor stoppage times (e.g., due to extreme vehicular conditions). These oversized supplemental power sources can be bulky, expensive and difficult to incorporate into controller packages.